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Ohio


Ohio's infant-mortality rates drop slightly
But the disparity between white and black infants has increased 
by WKSU's LAUREN BLUE


Reporter
Lauren Blue
 
Mary Diorio says some Ohio communities are working on family planning initiatives and centering pregnancy.
Courtesy of Jim Champion, Flickr

Ohio’s infant mortality rate has improved from last year, but the gap in mortality rates between white and black babies has increased.

Dr. Mary DiOrio is medical director of the Ohio Department of Health. She says the department is working with nine high-risk Ohio communities to try to close that gap.

LISTEN: DiOrio on changing infant mortality rates

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Mary Diorio says some Ohio communities are working on family planning initiatives and centering pregnancy.

“Some are working on family-planning initiatives and then some are looking at centering pregnancy. That’s a peer-based initiative where moms of the same area are brought together while they’re going through their pregnancy," says DiOrio. "And that’s been shown to really work because these moms can support each other during their pregnancies,” DiOrio says. 

DiOrio says the department doesn’t know the exact reasons for the disparity, they are working to address it.

 
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